a hell for the good? 10th week Tuesday 2013

Now we are on the fifth article of our faith.  Jesus after he died and was buried, descended into hell and on the third he rose again.  Jesus descended into hell.  What is this hell?

In the Old Testament, the English word hell refers to the land of the dead – in Hebrew this is called Sheol and in Greek this is called Hades.  It is believed that when people die all went to the land of the dead.  If you recall in Genesis the abode of God, heaven and paradise were closed to people and would remain close until the messiah would open it up again.  So all the dead whether good or bad, just or unjust go to Sheol or to Hades translated as hell in English because hell is a place where one is deprived of the vision of God.  In the later Old Testament they came to believe that Sheol or Hades was divided into two and Jesus would later say that an abyss separates these two parts of hell.  The first part is called the bosom of Abraham.  This hell is for the good, it is for the just.  The second part is Gehenna – this is where the unjust and the bad go where they are punished in the words of Jesus through fire that does not burn out, where worms eat the flesh, where evil men will gnash their teeth in torment.

Now when Jesus died he had to complete his mission by saving those who have gone ahead of him, beginning with Adam and Eve, with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, the prophets, the just kings of Israel and all those who did good, those who were confined land of the dead, in Sheol, specifically those confined  in that part of sheol called the bosom of Abraham.  And there Jesus announced to them the good news and from there he led them to the gates of paradise which was opened up once more by his redeeming death.  This is what we commemorate on Holy Saturday in the morning.

Today we celebrate the memorial of the Apostle Barnabas.  He was the companion of St. Paul in preaching Jesus to the Gentiles during the first missionary journey.  He was also instrumental together with St. Paul, in the decision of the Apostles to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and not merely confine themselves to the Jews.  However a misunderstanding separated him from St. Paul and he went back his native land, Cyprus where he became a martyr offering his life for God.

A Christian should imbibe the attitude of Christ to be inclusive, that like salt our saltiness, our presence should influence others to the good; that like light our brightness should influence others for the good.  Jesus spent the three days he was in the tomb looking for the souls of the just agod matipon sila sa balay sang Amay.  Barnabas spent his adult life seeking Gentiles so that they will not be deprived of the good news.  Kuntani may kasubong man kita nga panimuot – nga ang aton presensya daw nagapanghagad ngaa magsimba, nga ang aton presensya makahatag sing daku nga rason para sa iban nga magmangin maayo, nga kahapos mangin maayo, kahapos magpangadi kon yara ikaw.  This is what I mean by becoming inclusive, nga indi kita mangin obstacle para sa iban sa ila pagpalapit sa Dios, sa baylo ang aton presensya becomes a means so that others can become closer to God.